Which DACs are known to be sweet/rich/relaxed?

Why not just use the equalizer function within Roon?

@deludedaudiophile I tried that and Roon’s equalizer distorts the sound to the point I can hear the difference. Piano sounds off, for example. Having a highly resolving system is a two edged sword.

Looking at the Stereophile revies of the Audionote DACs, one thing they are not is resolving. Don't get fooled by the price. From what I learned of acoustics, your lack of absorption will also greatly reduce the resolution of your system. Perhaps Roon does have issues with its equalizer, but I have not found that the case and that does not seem to be a comment I have read. Good headphones may not have perfect frequency response, but they are far more resolving due to their very low distortion. If you were trying to use Roon with the Audionote, that may have created issues due to the Audionote's simple architecture. You may be better with a low distortion DAC and using Roon in your particular setup. 

I really think this is all barking up the wrong tree. Instead of spending 25-40K that may or may not work, spend $500-1000 to start for an acoustic engineer/technician to come to your house and measure your room / system. Without a baseline to know if your system is a bit bright of not, you are just throwing darts. An experienced set of ears may pick up on the flaw you hear, but cannot clearly identify the cause for. Just basic windows software on a PC can do equalization with absolutely no distortion. I am listening with headphones <0.01% distortion at high volume. That is lower than your DAC. All the equalization does is change the tonal balance. No distortion.

+1 duckworp,

This thread makes me believe (more), that audiophiles are more interested in throwing money and stuff on the wall and hoping it will stick than delving into the source of their problems so that they can intelligently fix them.

Me posting here and asking for feedback is *exactly* that: delving into the source of my problems. I’m open-minded and not fixated on one particular solution or the other. Yes, my budget is substantial, but that does not mean I want to throw mud against the wall and see what sticks. I started this topic to learn.

I use REW to measure the room myself.

I did not mean you, I mean all the effectively "random" suggestions that amount to throwing money at the problem but fortunately sprinkled in, a few suggestions to attempt to get to the heart of the problem.

You already have (assuming working properly) about as perfect a DAC as possible. Anything else will add distortion, frequency response issues, etc. Looking at the ASR test, about the only issue is the slow filter.  If I understand things right, that is only an issue with a flawed recording. Others can probably pipe in better on that. Cymbals have lot of power at high frequency.

How does your REW plot look?  Are there any obvious peaks in the mid-range or high frequencies?

Here is an interesting page with cymbals and a discussion of frequencies with samples. It may be good for trying to isolate the issue.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/percussion-frequencies-part-2-cymbals/

I listened again to Californication (from that album). The whole track has an edgy sound. I can't say any worse loud or quieter though. It does not sound like the best recording.

Also to consider is if perhaps there is something wrong with your amp or speakers that is highlighted with this music at high volumes. I have had issues in the past that only came out at high volumes (mid-range was failing).

I love when digital people want analog sound.

I love when people don't understand digital sound is analog all that is different is the recording mechanism.

— My room is large and not heavily treated. Playing music loud will overload the room: at 80dB the reflections make up, say, only 15% of what reaches my ear. At 90dB that could be 30 or 40% (numbers here are for the sake of example).

@robert1976 I always like a good problem. When I first read this, my first thought was "sound does not work that way". It is a saying with audiophiles, but unless your walls are falling down, you are not going to physically overload a room. I am not an acoustic engineer, but I am a physicist, so I get the basics.

Then I remembered loudness contours. Cymbals have a lot of energy at high frequency, 3 - 10KHz. Look at the chart below. At 80db (1KHz), 10KHz has to be 10db louder to sound as loud. At 100, it only needs to be 4-5 db louder to sound the same. I have to expect that is what you are experiencing.

I had this link from when I was looking at acoustics before hiring someone. A lot of materials like glass, some wood floors, drywall (plasterboard) reflect more at high frequencies.

It sounds like volume and your room are combining to make you unhappy. I don't have a solution, but the high quality equalizer that can be switched in and out may be best. Perhaps it is not the room that is overloading, it is your ears at higher frequencies? Any experts on hearing out there?  I know when I am at concerts, if the room is reflective it is grating.

Everything you have here has the electrical signal (we call it ’electrical’, which is a huge misnomer, it’s obscenely pidgin and incomplete), and all of it has to deal with the problems of how a signal in a delta state has to work with the ’wire’. Which is inordinate complex when we look at the quantum aspects of electron transfer.

(FYI the basic Liquid metal cables were tested at the highest levels of the TI (Texas Instruments) technical campus, and found to be notably anomalous in expected electrical norms. This, from their top man, who has an IQ of 196)

Oh please, do share with us his name? I would not hesitate to call him. I have enough cred in semiconductor device physics and processing to cold call most people without shame.

Most of the time I don’t like to credential drop. This is not one of them. I have a PhD in solid state physics (which is not the same as solid state devices). I have worked in the semiconductor industry on device physics and materials processing, and now in batteries.

I am going to go out on a limb and guess you have absolutely no published results, no publishable tests, no 3rd party testing of any sort that you can share that verifies your claims of superiority in the conduction of signals for audio purposes. I would actually be pleasantly surprised if you proved me wrong, but I don’t have high expectations.

I am not a hater. I am a highly qualified skeptic. There is nothing you have stated that eludes being validated through any number of measurements. To that conclusive end, I expect you to be able to supply those measurements. That is not too much to ask, nor is there any proprietary reason that a measurement cannot be shared. I am not asking for construction or material details.

So no name, and there are many many "top people" at TI. Their CTO is Ahmad Bahai. I don't know him personally, but I have met Kyle Flessner, who would probably reach out to Ahmad who could find out if anyone has even heard of you. They make not take it kindly if the report is not factual though.

So, as expected, not one test report, not one measurement, nothing 3rd party.

I don't have any desire to relate to someone who I feel is misleading. The patent communicates nothing about accomplishment (but does reveal a need to transition to a traditional material for connections, negating even some of the most basic claims). Patents are just that, patents. They are no guarantee of any performance criteria. You, the manufacturer are responsible for that.

So I will implore you again, if your claims are valid, then you should have readily available test reports, 3rd party test results, or other repeatable documentation that supports your very significant claims of superiority. If not, I have to assume they are just that, claims, with no foundation of basis to consider them valid.

You have made significant claims in your post, that is effectively an advertisement. Chastising someone who is asking you to back up your claims and making that a character fault on their part .... I will leave the conclusions on that to others.

@invalid, for one I am not the illustrious Cin Dyment, though I do admire his ability to take up firm residence in so many heads. Quite a skill. Two, it is a valid point in the discussion, because we are talking physics and a poster has made significant but at this point unsupportable claims. I consider it relevant to the other posters to know that I am not just spouting off, but am extremely familiar with material properties as it applies to their usage in electrical and other applications. Considering I was able to read a marketing blurb on Silversmith's website and correctly estimate a very high resistance cable, something virtually everyone else in the audio world seems to have missed, I would say I bring a skilled perspective to this discussion. However, out of respect for the op, other than to say don't trust claims that do not come with supporting documentation, I am done on Teo_Audio's cables. For you @invalid a natural response is to question suppliers claims when not supported with documentation, not to attack the person pointing that out. I expect that on a political discussion forum, not an audio forum.

@cleeds why are you protecting a Supplier, not a hobbyist on a forum you called a hobbyist who is making unsupported dubious claims again to the detriment of this thread????  I did not ask a hobbyist for anything. I asked a supplier. 

That must make you thyname on/off drugs. Weird people.

Everyone knows you are a raging racist @thyname and I am sue they don't appreciate their thread being hijacked for your psychotic episodes.

@cleeds 

Why are you protecting a supplier from obvious dubious claims to the detriment of the thread? That is political behavior not rational behavior.

@cleeds

I am still waiting for your answer to why you are attacking a hobbyist on a hobby forum for calling out a supplier making a post on a hobby forum that included dubious claims. You are doing this to the detriment and misdirection of this topic. You have now made 3 distracting posts. I am sorry you are offended but I won't apologize for calling out dubious claims from a supplier on a hobby forum. Now please stop wrecking the ops thread.

Having a custom listening room is next level audiophile. I always thought I had a pretty good system, but until I had a custom room, I didn't realize how far from "good" it was. There is no substitute.

This was solved many posts ago. It was not a DAC issue.